“In Some Thousand Years.” A Poem by Camonghne Felix

Literature

The rats
and the jellyfish
will survive.

The roaches and the
capybaras
will survive.

The mosquitos, the fruit flies,
the puggles and their soft beaks of
post-apocalyptic adolescence

will certainly
survive.

It’s us—malignant tumors of
ominous origin, contagions
of hominid conceit—that won’t.

And, anyway, of what use
would it be if we did?

Another dreadful century
gone

to vainglorious apathy and
glamorous afflictions, gone
to the silver nostalgias of war.

In some thousand years, the stars
will be too far to see, the negative space
of the sky a new bruise on our progeny.

In some thousand years, a child
of my blood will gaze up
at the bowl of the night and long for a memory.

Humans live
to find meaning, to make fine record
of some urgent, collective Why.

Imagine, then: a dusk
not littered with stars. Can you?
And, anyway—of what use

would meaning
be then?

__________________________________

The preceding is from the Freeman’s channel at Literary Hub, which features excerpts from the print editions of Freeman’s, along with supplementary writing from contributors past, present and future.



Articles You May Like

Ruben Reyes Jr. on Trump’s Plans for Mass Deportation ‹ Literary Hub
Hit Up Amazon for Early Black Friday Deals
Announcing the winner of the 2024 Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. ‹ Literary Hub
Best Movies and TV Shows Based on ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’
‘Never Look Away’ Exclusive Interview: Director Lucy Lawless